Rivelin Valley Conservation Group
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Capture the scenes and spirit of the neighbourhood where John Ruskin established St George’s Museum in 1875 to inspire the metal-workers of Sheffield. Follow the flow of activity from Walkley to the Rivelin Valley on the last Saturday of the Walkley Festival. All free.
Big draw in the Rivelin will be outside Rivelin Park Café, Rivelin Valley Rd, S6 5GE
11am-3pm: Drawing nature with Rivelin Valley Conservation Group - Just turn up. Materials provided.
2pm: Drawing walk with poetry led by sculptor Jason Thomson and poet Fay Musselwhite - Places limited. Book via ruskininsheffield@gmail.com.
Sheffield City Council has published an Interim Report giving the outcomes of the public consultation held between August and October 2016 on the proposed flood alleviation options on the Upper Don (including Rivelin and Loxley) and Sheaf catchments.
Full consultation responses report can be found on the Council website: http://www.floodprotectionsheffield.com/pages/consultation
Many of the options originally proposed have been dropped - these include the Swallow/Wolf flood storage area in Rivelin, but the Roscoe/New Dam flood storage area (FSA) is still under consideration, despite the relatively high level of opposition (49% disagreed with taking the option forward and 32% agreed, 19% had no opinion). The reasons given for the inclusion of the Roscoe/New Dam FSA are: “Would provide substantial storage and reduction in flood levels downstream of the FSA. This option is currently identified as the most beneficial of the Rivelin FSAs for reducing downstream flood levels to protect properties and businesses along the Loxley, the Upper Don and through the city. This is a sensitive option. Wherever practical, the concerns presented by consultees will be carefully addressed during further design and assessment work. Mitigation of environmental, heritage and amenity impacts will all need further consideration, working with local stakeholders. Through careful design there may be opportunities to enhance access, amenity, habitats and biodiversity and for improved flood protection and resilience to the park.”
According to the report “the concerns raised about the remaining sites are being carefully considered by the project team. Identifying whether and how these concerns can be adequately addressed will be part of the assessment of their feasibility. The need for the FSAs is therefore being balanced with the design of the local flood defences in order to develop an optimum combination. Further investigation work has now commenced and will include engineering scoping work, hydraulic modelling, site investigation where required, and environmental and heritage assessments. This work will proceed alongside continued engagement with statutory consultees, landowners and other key stakeholders. Later this year, a Preferred Option will be selected for each catchment and this will be detailed in the Outline Business Case submitted to the Government later in 2017.”
We understand that a more detailed report on the consultation outcomes will be issued in a few months, but that a document that brings together all responses to the consultation questionnaire could be made available within a few days.
More details and the interim report can be found at:
http://www.floodprotectionsheffield.com/pages/consultation
We have now installed marker posts at all 20 of the mills and dams along the Rivelin. This has been made possible by the many kind donations and sponsorship of the posts.
Each post marks the site of a particular mill and comes with a QR code and an NFC tag which can be used from a smart phone to access videos, images and further information about the history of the site, and the nature in that area. Click here to see the new interpretation.
The RVCG is concerned about the proposed removal of 26 trees in the Rivelin Valley adjacent to the park and opposite the fire station. Following a recent meeting with Amey, the reason given was restoration of a neat curb line and improvement of the pavements. We feel that removal of so many 100 year old trees to achieve a straight curb line is unacceptable and will have a huge detrimental effect on the visual aspect of this unique lime tree avenue. We discussed alternatives to retain the trees and still achieve a straight curb line and the removal of the trees has now been deferred to an Independent Tree Panel and we await the decision. Further information can be obtained from the following sites:
http://www.wildsheffield.com/what-we-do/south-yorkshire-biodiversity/planning-and-policy/sheffield-street-trees
http://www.savesheffieldtrees.org.uk/
This completely revised and updated edition features a trail guide with maps, historical details about each watermill site and where to look for the wildlife. It is richly-illustrated in colour with old photographs and maps. Click for more details ...
"Walking the Rivelin" is also now available from:
